


Rebuilding a world

by R_N_R



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Game spoiler, M/M, Tiny bit of gory content in one of the future chapter., postgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-04-27 21:38:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14434605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/R_N_R/pseuds/R_N_R
Summary: While the world can finally be at peace with the return of the Light, Prompto mourns The King and tries to make his way in the world without Noctis to look up to.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little something I needed to let out for myself and I figured I could share it as well if anyone's interested in reading it!  
> There might still be a few errors here and there, but shout out to my friend for proof reading it 'cause apparently I suck at punctuating! ♥ ;D

No one prepared them for what would happen after Noctis died. There was no protocol to follow, nothing left of the Lucian council to guide them through this. No one to tell them they did well. All that was left was emptiness and sorrow as they went to gather the remain of their friend, still sitting on the throne. A throne that was decided to be his final destination way before he was even born. The sun shining through the throne room was warm and quite blinding to say the least, especially after spending so much time in darkness and occasional bright artificial lights that kept a handful of places safe from daemons. While the light was supposed to bring back hope, peace and  _ life _ back to the land, none of the three men standing in the room would ever look at it the same. It was bitter sweet. Sure, it was good to finally be able to see clearly, for Gladio and Prompto at least. To think that vegetation would slowly start taking over what had been dead for years. However a metaphorical light went dark; one that they all knew would never shine again. It left them feeling empty and betrayed by the wicked ways life had toyed with them, and still obviously was, how it took away their King, who had wanted nothing more than to restore peace. Yet even after taking Noctis from them, life was still taking more. They didn’t have time to catch a break, they had to restore their world. Without their friend… The last heir to a doomed bloodline.

Everything else after this time was rushed. No time to contact those they knew were still alive. No time to make a big ceremony worthy of the passing of a King. Just a few words and the three of them around bright flames would have to do. But everything felt wrong, Noctis deserved better, sadly this was all they could do for him. His battle was over, but theirs was still ongoing. They all knew their late king expected a lot from them and they all wanted to give it everything they had, even if that meant they would have to swallow their emotional and physical pain until they couldn’t stand anymore and would fall from exhaustion.  

Once the King’s remains were nothing but ashes, Gladio took his Crownguard jacket off and wrapped the ashes in it, stuffing it all in a small box. He wasn’t much for wearing jackets anyway, he could go on with only his shirt without a probleme. The three agreed, much to Prompto’s devotion, that the latest was going to take the ashes and the King’s weapon with him. Something about “him never feeling like he had done anything useful through their journey”. He insisted this was going to be his burden while Ignis and Gladio worked on fixing a world that had obviously went to hell and back. Political arrangements and anything that had to do with the possibility of rebuilding a council would have to wait until they at least had a room to sit said council in. Prompto also insisted that he wanted part in the council, no one turned him down, in fact Ignis smiled at him and nodded. They might have grown apart with the years in darkness, but they were still brothers and Ignis reassured him that they wouldn’t have it any other way. 

With that deed done, they parted ways to quickly go and give a hand to whoever still needed them, with a vague promise of meeting by the citadel in a few months maybe even a year. Gladio was to take off to the west side of the country, while Prompto took care of the east, both helping the people in need, doing their best to keep the communication towers up and running and directing the survivors toward the city. Ignis was to stay in the shambles that once was Insomnia to welcome anyone who would be sent his way to help rebuilding. They had to concentrate their efforts in one place before being able to rebuild everything and Ignis was probably the most qualified to conduct the rebuilding operation smoothly.

 

* * *

 

 

Prompto made a very brief stop by Hammerhead to gather some personal stuff he had left there before leaving for the citadel for their final battle and to let Cindy know about everything that happened. He also let her in on the plan to rebuild Insomnia, asking her if she could send survivors toward the city whenever they would stop by to rest. She agreed with a smile, but not without pulling him into a tight hug, telling him how sorry she was about Noctis. There was a cheer from his 20 years old self ringing in the back of his mind from scoring a hug from Cindy, but it went quiet as soon as it came. Then his heart ached again for Noctis. He knew his friend would have made fun of him at that moment. He could almost hear his voice nagging him about his old crush  _ finally _ showing him the tiniest hint of interest, all without even knowing that he would have thrown himself at his best friend if he ever believed he would have had a chance. Prompto could not help but laugh sourly at his own love interests, each one just as unavailable as the other.  Cindy, almost literally married to her job. Noctis, engaged to an incredibly beautiful woman, and now nothing but ashes. _ The six have a shitty sense of humor.  _

He did however return the hug, and may have held her a little longer than he should have. One would probably have mistaken this gesture for taking advantage of the moment, but it wasn’t because it was Cindy, there was no after thought, he just really needed the comfort. After a few seconds, once he accepted the fact that his eyes weren’t getting any dryer, he pulled away and gave her a sad smile, swallowing on the lump that now resided in his throat. 

“I’ll see you around, you still have my number right? Call me if you need anything.” He said, giving her a quick phone gesture with his hand, ignoring his shaky voice. “Unless you need help to open a jar, then call Gladio.” He joked, trying to lighten the mood, that’s what he did, that’s what he always thought he was good at, so he was going to keep trying for as long as he could.

“Will do! You better do the same, don’t be a stranger now.” She added and waved at him as he started to walk away. 

After that, he was back on the road. There was no question in Prompto’s head, he walked, and walked, and walked some more. His feet were probably bleeding by the time he reached his destination. The box carefully strapped to his back, along with the heavy blade he kept at his side through days and nights, were making his body feel heavier than ever but he was not regretting his decision.  _ Ever at your side _ he remembered, and he still meant it. He walked for almost two days, stopping every once in a while to drink some water or dip his aching feet into a lake whenever he passed by one.

A soft smile appeared on his face when he finally approached what used to be a brightly decorated structure, but disappeared as soon as he noticed the state the place was in. He had heard about the old man holding his ground for as long as he could, that finally met his fate by the blade of a nasty daemon, leaving the place in shambles, but he needed to see the place for himself. The paint was flaking off. There was nothing left of the stables around the building except the very sad looking skeleton of a bird. The doors keeping the front store safe were flapping loudly in the wind. Nothing was left on the shelves. The caravan they slept in so many times had been ripped open by what prompto assumed to be a one of these giant daemons that would come out of nowhere... The Wiz Chocobo post had never looked so empty and sad, and the exhaustion finally caught up with Prompto. He let himself fall to his knees, not even trying to hold back his tears anymore, there was no one to see him cry anyway. The place that brought back the best memories to him was almost completely wiped off and suddenly felt so lonely and small. 

The blond remained there for a moment and held the blade against his chest, not caring that it was poking in awkward places, letting his emotions get the best of him for over an hour before he managed to collect himself again enough to at least let himself in and find a place to rest. As he layed in the remaining of a haystack that night, he told himself he was going to make this place shine again, adding to what seemed to already be a long list of things to do before he died. But for now, it would have to be his camping ground. He wanted to help the people before helping himself. That’s what Noctis would have wanted. What was expected of him. 

The next morning he cleaned the place up a little, only making it a little comfortable. Having a place to call home would surely help his mood, camping at havens wasn’t the same anymore, especially when he was on his own. He placed the ashes of his friend near the corner of a room that he decided would eventually be his bedroom. Placed the blade against the wall next to it before putting out the stuff he still carried around, one of which being four large feathers strung together. They were all yellow, but he could tell from the hues which one belonged to whom. He wanted something to remember the chocobos who accompanied them more than half or the way. The same chocobos that were eventually lost to the darkness along with a lot of other things Prompto cherished. 

Once he was happy, or as happy as he could be with his set up, he made a quick work of a sign to let people know this place was occupied and was on his way. He still had to help rebuild whatever needed rebuilding and recruit people to help Ignis in the Crown City. As he left, he hoped that his faith in mankind wouldn’t let him down and he wouldn’t return to find someone had stolen the little belonging he still had.  

 


	2. Chapter 2

Months had passed. The place was still in shambles, but Prompto was making progress. He fixed the holes in the roof, the doors were holding again and he managed to find himself a lock to secure his supplies. But it was all coming along so slowly with all the work he was doing outside of his new home. He managed to score himself a decent car to get around at least, so that made him a little faster. When it would actually start that is. He tried not to bother Cindy too much with his car problems, as much as he would have liked to, Hammerhead was kind of far and she had a lot on her plate too. So he studied his car and fixed it as best as he could, though he knew she wouldn’t be impressed with his handiwork. A lot of it was holding together by pure luck, some tape and a lot of determination (stubbornness) on his part. The car was a good representation of how he felt himself.

One day, he found himself stranded to the chocobo post with a car that refused to start and feet so achy he didn’t even think he could walk a mile. That’s when he decided he deserved at least one day off, just so he could figure out what’s wrong with the car. _It’s old and you can’t fix time._ He told himself as he stubbornly opened the hood and tried to see what could have been the problem. He poked and prod for hours, the sun was hot on his backside and he was slowly losing his temper. Until he heard a ruffling sound nearby.

He stopped what he was doing, stopped moving, almost stopped breathing, hoping that whatever it was, it would just keep walking past him. He dared moving his eyes up though and he was not ready for what he saw. A bright smile appeared on his face when he saw a black chocobo, walking right through the parking lot. He held back any sound that threatened to escape his lips, not wanting to scare it away, but as soon as he made a move, the chocobo stops and stared at him.

“Hey buddy! You lost or somethin’?” He asked softly and moved very slowly toward it. The bird looked him over and before he could get close enough it backed away. Prompto got the message.

“Alright, no touchy, we’re cool!” He said casually and just as softly as he took a few steps back, trying not to scare the bird away. He slowly made his way to his living quarters, of course he didn’t have anything suitable for a chocobo, but he figured anything would do at this point. He got some bread and berries he brought back from the last outpost he had been working at in the last few days. He put everything in a large bucket and walked up to the side of the car, placing it carefully on the ground before walking back a few steps.

The bird looked over at it curiously and took cautious steps toward the offering and instead of eating straight from it like Prompto hoped he would, he grabbed the handle and darted off much to the blonde’s disappointment.

“Come on! I just wanted to be your friend!” He whined loudly, dropping his hands on each sides and sighed before going back to work. Though the encounter had lift his spirit quite a bit.

Once he decided the car was officially a lost cause, he got to work on something else. Hours later, he had a huge container screwed into the ground near his car and swore he was not going to be outsmarted by the bird again.

 

* * *

 

Prompto had been alone for a while by then. He only talked to a few survivors and hunters he came across while rebuilding the Coenix station outpost near Alstor Slough. He busied himself making it a safe place for people traveling toward the the city and helping provide the store with some supplies for anyone who still didn’t have it in them to go out and find stuff they needed for survival. But once he was back at the chocobo post he couldn’t help but feel lonely again. He had tried to make the place more lively, hoping it would somehow make him feel a better. But Noctis’ ashes and blade were still a painful reminder of everything that happened and things that needed to happen sooner than later. He still hadn’t found a suitable place for the King, or maybe he was just holding on to something that was already long gone. Rolling on his side he placed a hand on top of the box and felt his heart squeeze in his chest. “I miss you Noct.” He simply said, it’s all he could really say. No one was around to question his sanity when he spoke to the box, but then again, he figured no one would, even if there was anyone around to witness this.

He let out a soft but shaky sigh as the silence stretched and was about to roll on his back to try and sleep it off. It was dark outside and he was exhausted, but before he could close his eyes again, he heard a noise coming from outside. He quickly got on his feet, got a hold of his gun, holding it close to him as he went to the door. There it was, the same Chocobo that came by a week before, carefully walking around the car that hadn’t been working since. He smiled and put his gun back down and walked out slowly with some greens this time.

“You again! Still hungry?” He spoke softly not to scare the bird away. He hadn’t seen any other wild chocobos around ever since he set camp, but there was one and that allowed him to hope more of his kind were still alive and kicking. “Here, I know it’s not a lot…” He said and took a couple of step toward the container he had set up for this occasion and let the greens fall in before walking back and let the chocobo have whatever he wanted.

Dark eyes locked on him as the bird walked up to the food offering and quickly tried to get a hold of the container, obviously to run off with it, but Prompto crossed his arms with a smug grin on his face when the container didn’t budge.

“Nah, not this time, you gotta deal with me being around buddy. Sorry.” He was not sorry.

The black bird tried a couple of more times to make the thing move but let out what sounded like a sigh of defeat when it didn’t move a bit and decided to eat anyway. The eyes didn’t leave Prompto as he ate, obviously wary that he would try something, but the blonde didn’t approach more than necessary. He even sat down far enough to look at his black feathery friend while leaving a comfortable distance between them. He was going to let the chocobo come to him when he felt like it. _No need to force things_ He thought.

 

* * *

 

A few weeks had passed again, and the chocobo came by almost everyday. He ate quietly at a safe distance every time, until one day he came back with the empty bucket he had stolen from Prompto the first time he came around.

Prompto was busy fixing the letters on the front of the building, wanting to keep the place as accurate to his memories as he could, when he heard the ‘clang’ of metal hitting one of the few tables he had put back in place. He smiled as he carefully climbed down from the ladder and was surprised to see the bird didn’t seem like he wanted to run off. In fact he took a few step closer, still very careful, but obviously a little more trusting than the first times. He held the handle of the bucket in his beak and walked close enough to push it into the man’s chest until Prompto would reach up to hold it.

“Look at you! Thank you buddy, I was going to need that back someday, I guess…” He said and saw the bird pull back, just out of arm’s reach. But not running off. Prompto assumed he was hungry and kept smiling as he turned to walked back inside, leaving the door open. A farmer had set up *camp* near the Alstor outpost and the gunner had dared to ask if he could grow something for chocobos, it wasn’t a lot, but he had something tasty for the chocobo now.

When he turned back to head out and hand it to him, he noticed the bird was already halfway inside and looked around curiously. That made him smile even brighter and he walked back to meet him, letting the chocobo take a good look at his place before holding some gysahl greens out for his feathery friend.

“You mind if we do this outside? There’s nothing pleasant to look at here, unless you are into grim memories and tragic stories... “ He said and tried to lead the bird back outside. The chocobo didn’t need more than the smell of gysahl greens to follow Prompto back outside and happily started to eat from his hand.

Once the food was all gone, the man showed him his empty hand and looked at the bird’s eyes to let him know he wasn’t going to hurt him as he reached up and managed to run his hand through the feathers on the side of his neck. Prompto was almost giddy by then. He smiled bright and kept petting the feathers gently, not once trying to push the boundaries too far.

“You’re such a good boy, I’m glad you lived through that.” He said softly, not really thinking before he spoke. The bird was obviously an adult so he figured he has had lived through at least half of the dark decade. Prompto even dared to think he was possibly related to the black chick him and his friends rescued all those years ago. Before long the moment was over. The bird looking him over before starting to peck at Prompto’s hair a little too hard and stomped back a couple of feet. “Fuc- Ow! What was that for!” Prompto quickly exclaimed but couldn’t hold back his laughter. He figured the bird was still hungry and went back inside to see if he could get him something else. He had to make a trip back to civilisation the next day anyway so he didn’t mind sharing the last of his supplies with his new friend.

Once he came back outside though, the chocobo was gone again. Prompto just kept smiling to himself and went back to work. It was nice to have something to honestly smile about again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, this is a short one.

Some dreams were obviously dreams, ones that made no sense from start to finish. Some others were just painfully realistic and sometimes way too close to things that already happened in the past. Personally Prompto likes the former better, this way he doesn’t wake up feeling like shit for not being able to change the outcome of what already happened **.** Unfortunately, dealing with the latest was also a thing after having gone through as much as he had.

He knew it was a dream from the start. His memories were just playing tricks on him again and he couldn’t do anything to stop it, he was too exhausted to shake himself awake. So all he could do was to let the memories play out and wait for it to pass. 

_ It had been dark for a while now. Their chocobo rental had long expired, almost five years prior to be more precise, but the birds still came back when the three men needed them. Always showing up a few seconds after they would whistle for them. Even Noctis’. He just followed and at first _ _ , _ _ it broke Prompto’s heart whenever the bird looked around, as if he was looking for the Prince- the King. But after a while, his heart started to grow numb. He wasn’t going to admit to anyone that he was losing hope to ever see his friend, or the sunlight again.  _

_ As expected, the birds came again when they whistled. Except, this time something was off. The larger one, Gladio’s, was taking more time, hardly keeping up with the other birds. That's when it all started. A few days later, it just didn’t show up. They whistled a few times, looking around, but nothing. Prompto couldn’t help but bite down on his tears, knowing fully well this meant they wouldn’t see the bird again. He was glad he made a habit to pick out loose feathers when they were camping and kept the biggest and prettiest ones. He decided to hold on to the one he remembered belonged to Gladio’s chocobo. He held on to it and to one from each of their companion as a memento, now painfully aware that they wouldn’t be around forever. _

_ The loss of one bird gave Noctis’ one a purpose, Gladio gladly rode it whenever they needed a ride, though the poor bird did struggle with the man’s weight the first few times.  _

_ They weren’t ready for the next time they lost one of their feathered friend, Ignis’ this time: They whistled for the birds a few months after the first one disappeared. They could hear them coming their way, but only two of them came and ran past them. They kept running like their life depended on it. In the distance they could hear the third one, but it wasn’t coming toward them. Prompto didn’t think twice and dashed in its direction, Ignis and Gladio close on his tail. Bright yellow feathers were covered in blood, as the chocobo laid in a ditch with no way of getting back up for the obvious fact that she was missing a leg, ripped right off the rest of her body. A daemon had gotten to her and seemed dead set on ripping the chocobo apart piece by piece. Gladiolus ran to the daemon and quickly unleashed all hell on it, and it soon disappeared the way daemons usually did, leaving the place quiet again except for Gladio’s panting and the soft cries of an agonizing chocobo. Without a word, Ignis held his hand out to Prompto and the blonde didn’t need words to understand what he wanted. He handed him his gun, letting the Advisor walk to the bloodied bird, and even without his eyesight, Ignis shot her dead. It was the only thing to do, there was no way they could take care of her injured as she was, and the poor thing was barely holding on to life. No one said anything about it. Though Prompto saw a few tears leaving Ignis’ eyes.  _

_ That’s when they knew what they had was all gone. They split up that night and didn’t hunt together again, but they all kept their whistle close, just as a keepsake.  _

_ Prompto however kept on whistling for the two remaining birds to come even when he didn’t need them for traveling. They were the best company he could find nowadays, and he just wanted to be reminded about… everything. He didn’t want to forget what it was like to run out in the fields while the sun was blaring; the bright feathers were the closest he could feel to actually seeing the sunlight. And one day, only Noctis’ chocobo came. He knew there was no way the two would have split up for no reason. His chocobo was more than likely dead as well. After that Prompto kept Noctis’ chocobo by his side, never dismissing him until the bird aged and let himself die, almost 8 years after they had lost Noctis to the Crystal. And just like that, Prompto lost the only thing that still brought an honest smile to his face. _

The blonde sat up in his makeshift bed quickly, feeling empty and even more exhausted than he had before he went to sleep. According to his phone it wasn’t even past 3am, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep anytime soon. So he laid there, staring at the ceiling quietly. What he wouldn’t give to be able to turn to his side and shake someone up for a quick hug, or even just a familiar “Go back to sleep Prom...”. Anything that wouldn’t leave him feeling as lonely as he was. 


	4. Chapter 4

Prompto had managed to finally fix the power at the Chocobo post. While the communication towers were still up and some hunters kept a close eye on them to make sure they were always functioning, his phone was mostly charging when he went to work at the outposts. It was nice to know that he would finally be able to charge it while resting too. It felt a little less lonely to be a few clicks away from Ignis and Gladio, even if they were both busy as well. Ignis texted them both one day, saying it was about time they finally got together again, sending some blurry pictures of the work that was being made in Insomnia. He couldn’t blame him, the man _was_ blind after all. But the sight of the Citadel in the background, blurry as it was, made his heart ache again. He knew he was not ok, not yet, but most days it was bearable, he forgot he was grieving. Until he was bluntly reminded of the blade and the box, still in his possession. If he was to be honest with himself, he didn’t want to drop it just _anywhere_ , he was going to hold on to it until he found the perfect place for Noctis.

P: _I’m still a little busy here buddy, I sent a few people your way last week though, hope they made it alright!_

Technically it wasn’t a lie, he really was busy, but he also didn’t think he could face Insomnia just yet.

P: _Two more weeks?_  
P: I’ll be there in two weeks!  
G: _I better start making tracks soon then. Why am I the one that had to go that far out?_  
P: _‘Cause Hammerhead is my zone, suck it! :P_  
I: _I’ll see you both in two weeks then._  
P: You won’t, but we’ll be there!  
G: _… That’s low Prompto._  
P: _… I’m sorry Iggy!_  
P: _Iggy._  
P: _Seriously_  
P: _I didn’t mean that._  
I: _It is fine._ _  
_ P: <3 ?

No answer, he figured it was just as well. As long as he had known him, Ignis was not much of a texter, he probably forgot about this the moment he set his phone in his pocket. The bird that was by then part of his everyday life, looked up at him curiously when Prompto smiled at his phone before leaning to tap his beak on the screen much like the nails of his thumbs did as he texted his friends.

“Ok, no. You don’t get to break the only thing I have left to communicate. Stop.” He said softly and moved the phone of of reach. “So… We have two weeks. The car is done for and I am _not_ leaving you here alone.” He said eyeing the bird with a mischievous smile on his face.

He stood up from the place he was resting under the weathered umbrella casting shadow over one of the tables and walked over to the old barn. He hadn’t have time to clean it completely, but he remembered seeing saddles somewhere in there. When he came back with one he approached the chocobo, much more boldly than he would have a month ago and showed him the saddle, letting him peck at it curiously. Hopefully it still had that chocobo smell to it and it would make things easier. Hopefully.

“Bare with me, you might not enjoy this much.” He said softly and he swiftly thrown the saddle on his back, before the bird could run away, successfully startling the poor thing and earning himself a series of hard beak-pecking on the head, along with loud disapproving chirps. “Ok! Ok! Fine, maybe some other time…” Prompto whined, trying to get away from the hard beak, holding his arms over his head to try and shield himself.   

The chocobo shrugged the saddle the rest of the way and quickly ruffled his feather back to it’s usual puffy looks. He kept glaring daggers at Prompto as he walked toward the fresh water tank the man put up just for him.

“Really though. I don’t mind leaving you for a couple of days, but the city is far! I won’t be back for… I don’t even know how long.” He added with a loud sigh, not caring anymore that the majority of his conversation nowadays happened with a being that wasn’t ever going to talk back. Be it the chocobo or his best friend’s ashes. This was his life now. And he accepted it.

The bird paid no mind to him after that, one would almost think he was sulking now, but Prompto _knew_ he was sulking.

 

* * *

 

Prompto tried again a few days later, but of course the chocobo was having none of it. Though this time instead of pecking him he straight up kicked him on the ground before sprinting off. Prompto hadn’t seen him for three days after that, which got him worried and he came to the conclusion that he wasn’t going to get through to him, not in time to meet with Gladio and Ignis. He couldn't possibly ask Cindy to come check up on his bird either, she obviously had better things to do. He was thorn, he didn’t want to abandon him, but he had to meet with the others.  

* * *

 

The blonde was getting ready for the long trip ahead when the black feathered chocobo finally came up to him. He poked his head through the open door, curiously observing Prompto as he packed his stuff; a bit of water, some questionably clean clothes, snacks for the road... He knew this was going to be a long walk back to Insomnia again, but he really didn’t have a choice, he told his friends he was going to be there and he didn’t want to go back on his words.

The air around him probably gave away how sad he was for one reason or another, because before he could finish packing up he felt soft feathers rub against the back of his neck. That was enough to make him rethink the idea of leaving.

“I have to go buddy. I’ll be back, you’ll be alright.” He said, mostly trying to convince himself of that. He stood up again and turned to wrap his arms around the chocobo’s neck and hugged him for a moment. “Take care alright?”

He finally pulled away and smiled before turning to walk out, locked the door once they were both out and made his way toward the small gate. Before he could even reach it though, he heard the loud stomping of the chocobo’s feet behind him and before he could turn around the saddle was thrown at him. Prompto turned to the bird and smiled again.

“You better not be messing with me here buddy!” He said softly and put his duffle bag on the ground before picking the saddle and raised it over the chocobo’s back who didn’t make a fuss this time. Once it was on his back he shuffled a little, obviously not too comfortable, but he made no move to get it off. There was no words to explain how proud Prompto felt at that very moment.

“See? It ain’t that bad!” He said happily and let his hand move up to pet the bird’s head and leaned to press their foreheads together for a moment before moving back to his side, grabbed his bag and put one foot in the stirrup of the saddle to haul himself up. His other leg wasn’t even over the saddle yet that he felt the chocobo quickly lose balance and fell not so gracefully on his side, sprawled over Prompto’s lower half.

The blonde laughed out loud, he couldn’t help it, the sight must have been quite hilarious, but there was no one around to witness it. The bird quickly twisted until he could get back on his feet and didn’t seem one bit affected by the man’s laughter. He obviously grounded himself a little better for the second try. This one went much more smoothly than the first, and after a couple of minutes of ajustements, they were on their way. Prompto looked back at the place he now called home knowing he wouldn’t be back for a little while, leaving what was left of his best friend behind. He knew this was a little dumb, but he felt bad. _I’ll be back before you know it._

He did his best to chase the feeling away, replacing it with the excitement of getting to see Gladio and Ignis again after almost a whole year. As the chocobo slowly walked along the road, he pulled his phone out and quickly texted them.

P: _On my way, and I got a friend with me, you all better be ready!_  
I: _Do we have reasons to be worried?_  
P: _What? No!_  
G: _Still worried. I’ll pick you up at Hammerhead if you need me to, should be there in less than a day._ _  
_ P: Nah, go on, I’ll meet you there.

Thoughts of the citadel made his heart squeeze again, but he ignored it and put his phone back in the pocket of his Crownsguard jacket. He gently pressed his heels in the chocobo’s sides, urging him to go a little faster. “Just like riding a bike!” He told himself as he quickly got the hang of it.  

It was starting to get dark when they reached Hammerhead. Even though he hadn’t let the chocobo carry him all the way there, getting off to walk alongside him every once in a while, he figured the bird would be tired. The sun had been scorching hot all day and he was starting to feel tired as well, they would settle for the night.

“Here boy! Let me get you some water and food!” Prompto said happily as he climbed off and stretched his legs, leading the black bird near what was originally Takka’s dinner. It was just a storage now, still accommodating a few hunters that kept the area somewhat secure. No one closed the gates around the outpost anymore, there was no need for it now that the light was back.

“Hey there stranger!” A familiar voice came from the garage. Cindy walked up to him and dusted her hands on the sides of her denim shorts that still looked so damn good on her. “Ain’t that a blast from the past! It’s been awhile since we seen any o’ these guys around!” She added as she walked up close to the chocobo. “Where’d you find her?”

“Excuse you, it’s a he.” Prompto quickly corrected her with a smile on his face. The chocobo looked at the new comer with caution, but didn’t seem threatened by her in the least.

“Says who?” She asked back grinding at him mischievously.

“... Got me there. I don’t know. I’m not a chocobo pro or anything.” He added and laughed, quickly reaching up to take the saddle off the bird.

“Guess you’ll be stayin’ the night?” The woman asked, balancing herself on one foot like she always did as he turned to hang the saddle on the side of the old caravan.

“Yeah, this guy’s not used to traveling I think…” Prompto answered looking at the large bird walking next to him. The chocobo all but collapsed under the shade provided by the dinner next to the caravan.

“Y’all make yourselves comfy then, I’ll see that you get some water and I might have something descent for you to eat too!” She said cheerfully, smiling at him.

“It’s fine Cindy, I’ve got this!” He said winking at her and walked to the storage to look for food and something to bring water to his feathered buddy.

“So, what’s _his_ name?” Cindy asked as he walked back outside with a large bucket filled with water in one hand and some food for the both of them in the other.

“I didn’t think of one…” He said and placed the bucket on the ground near the pile of black feather that seemed to have dosed off already.

“How come?” Cindy asked looking down at the resting chocobo.

“Well, you know after what happened with Ja- Ow!” Prompto started to explain but was cut off by her finger flicking his nose harder than necessary.

“I know he doesn’t realise it, but that’s kinda cruel, find’im a name already!” She huffed out, putting her fists on her hips angrily.

Prompto rubbed his nose a bit and frowned, realising how wrong it was. There was no darkness to lose his new friend to, and he hated to think back on the faith the four chocobos had suffered, but he figured it _would_ make it a little more personal if he had a name.

“... What about Spade?” He asked looking at her for some sort of validation.

“Spade it is! Now go get some rest, it’s gettin’ late…” She said with a warm smile and turned to leave them alone.

Once they were both fed and settled, Prompto got out of his clothes and laid down in the caravan, trying not to think too much about all the memories they had made in this particular one. It was easier said than done; he fell asleep to the memories of Noctis and him sharing the small bed because Gladio was too big for it. The later would be snoring loudly on the other side of the caravan while they both played games on their phone, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Ignis would be quietly sleeping in the top bunk above Gladio. This was the happiest Prompto had ever been, even given the circumstances and the fall of their city.

He fell into a deep sleep and allowed himself to dream. It wasn’t rare for him to dream of his late friend since he passed. In fact Prompto took comfort in thinking it was actually Noctis visiting him every once in a while. Of course he wouldn’t tell anyone about it, both because people would probably think he’s gone mad and also because it all felt very intimate. He wanted these dreams to be his alone. No one trying to read into it too much and ruining the little happiness he felt whenever he woke up from a particularly nice dream. He didn’t want to hear about coping mechanism, he wanted this to be exactly what he felt like it was.

He always knew it was a dream as soon as he would see his friend’s face, forever young and glowing. As soon as he would realise he was in his old familiar clothes. He never missed an opportunity to tell Noctis he missed him whenever he felt the dream was fading and he was about to wake up. And Noctis always managed to have time to tell him he did too before his mind was pulled back into reality. This night was no different. He had met with his friend in his dream and they would talk. He told him about what was going on in the world, not holding back from reaching a hand to hold Noctis’ as he talked about his new chocobo friend, the rebuilding, the obvious sunburn he got on the tip of his nose from being under the sun all the way to Hammerhead. But one night was never enough to say everything he wanted to say. His fingers slipped between Noctis’ with a light squeeze as he felt reality tugging back at him, this would have to do.    
  
“ _I miss you. Visit me again soon, alright?_ ” He finds himself asking with some tears in his eyes, but he didn’t look sad, mostly hopeful for another dream in the near future.

“ _Of course I will. I miss you too Prompto…”_

And with that he was pulled back to reality, a soft smile on his face as the words echoed soothingly in his head. These dreams were fuel to him. They gave him the strength he didn’t think he still had. They made him forget about the bad dreams made of the worse memories his brain could come up with.

* * *

 

Once they had a good breakfast, Prompto went and hugged Cindy goodbye, not missing the opportunity to hit on her casually as he always did. He always felt the need to let her know he was available and she always brushed him off with a laugh. Never awkward, never serious, casual flirting was a thing now and Cindy never acted like it really bothered her. And then they were off, the previous night’s dream giving him enough strength to face the Citadel and everything surrounding it.

A couple of hours later and Prompto could start to see the outskirt of the city. To his surprise, it actually felt good. Maybe it was the fact that he was going to see his friends after almost a whole year of mainly communicating through texts, but something made him feel excited.

He carefully stopped the chocobo’s stride and took his phone out, opening the camera. He smiled as he took a quick selfie in front of one of the few landmarks that was still standing, cropped out the Chocobo he had been riding on and sent it as an attachment to the group chat he had with Ignis and Gladio.  
  
P: Almost there! The hype is real!  
G: You’re slow, I’ve been here for almost a whole day already.  
P: _I miss you too big guy, but be patient! ;)_  
I: What’s your ETA? We’ll wait for you by the gates.  
P: _45 minutes, maybe less?  
_ I: Alright, see you then.

As expected, Prompto crossed the gates of Insomnia a little less than 45 minutes later and carefully climbed off his chocobo once his friends were in sight, walking the rest of the way to the both of them. The sun was still high in the sky and if he was to be honest with himself, the city looked good already. Although it still made him feel sad and a little lonely, he came to the conclusion that he would always feel that way, no matter how many people surrounded him. He accepted that fact, and tried to keep on going through life as best as he could. How he managed to live his life as a kid before Noctis was in his life was beyond him, but back then he didn’t know what was missing, and now, sadly, he did.

“Hey, Prompto!” Gladio’s voice called out once they were closer, Spade following close behind.

“Aren’t you guys a sight for sore eyes, sorry Iggy, no pun intended.” The blond answered once they were close enough, turning his attention to the blind man as he apologized.

“Not a problem.” Ignis replied with a smile of his own, and before he could say anything else, strong arms wrapped around him and hugged him tight, almost squeezing the air straight out of his lungs.

“Gla-Gladio! air!” Prompto squeaked, only earning himself a tighter squeeze for a short moment and a light chuckle from the former shield. Gladio obviously meant no harm, but Prompto did however struggle for his breath for the split second the hug lasted.

“That’s for making us wait.” Gladiolus said, the smile never leaving his face. “Man you stink.” He added once he pulled away.

“Yeah, this guy’s been pretty much living with me for the last month or so...” Prompto tried to explain, putting the blame on the chocobo standing cautiously behind him.

“No, that’s definitely not the chocobo, blondie. You need a shower. And a how long has it been since you last shaved? A week?” Gladio added with a laugh.

“...More like 3 weeks. You do not get to make fun of my inability to grow decent facial hair, not everyone is a literal beast like you.” Prompto said glaring at Gladio with his arms crossed over his chest, though it was obvious he wasn’t angry.

“You mean metaphorical, Prompto.” Ignis quickly corrected him as he slipped a glove off and reached his bare hand out to feel Prompto’s face carefully. He could sense a lot of things and sometimes people didn’t even believe he was blind anymore, but there was things he couldn’t quite figure out unless he could feel it under his fingertips. “But indeed, a shave would probably do you good. And a shower as well.” Ignis added with a formal smile, so characteristic of him. Before he could pull his hand away, the gunner pulled him in a tight hug as well. He missed them, this was nice.

Gladio turned his attention to the chocobo standing close to Prompto and finally dared to approach it. He reached a hand out to it only for the bird to take a step back, flap his wings and stomp his big feet on the pavement in an attempt to intimidate the bulky man.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you…” Prompto said with a chuckle as he saw Gladio’s surprise on his face.

“What’s wrong with this guy? I’m not gonna hurt you…” The brunette said turning to the bird again.

“Well, the only interaction he had is with me and Cindy, you’re kind of intimidating compared to us, dude.” Prompto tried to say and walked up to Spade and placed a hand on his beak to calm him down a little.

“Cindy, huh? “ Gladio said with a smug smile, accepting the fact that the bird wasn’t going to allow him to get any closer. 

“Yeah I stopped by Hammerhead for the night before getting here.” Prompto said, the smug expression not hitting him right away. “Hey. It’s not like that.” He said blushing a little.

“Riiight~.” Gladio said rolling his eyes.

“Come on. We both know I don’t have enough metal parts for her to be even _remotely_ attracted to me.” The blonde said with a laugh. “Unless-! I have to find a way to replace one of my arms with a mechanical one!” He added obviously a little excited with the idea. 

“You will most likely die of an infection before we even figure out how to attach your nerves to the mechanism. I advise you find another way to get her to fancy you.” Ignis finally said, happily hopping into the silliness of this conversation, only to crush it into pieces.

“Awww! Why do you gotta be that way, Ignis?” The blonde asked faking a pout at the man. He knew the advisor couldn’t see it, but clearly he could ‘feel’ it. 

“Because _someone_ ’s got to speak some sense into you or you would find yourself dead within a week.” Ignis said, composing himself and trying not to let the familiarity of their discussion get to him.

“Uh… Hello? I’ve been living alone for almost a year. I’m still breathing aren’t I?” Prompto shot back with a smile. 

“Your poor hygiene and the way your cheekbones almost cut my hand earlier are obvious signs that you probably should have been dead weeks ago.” The blind man said with a smile, showing he didn’t mean any offence. Though his malnutrition didn’t go unnoticed. “Come on, let's get you to your quarters so you can clean up, I believe we have a place to let your friend rest as well. The stables have been spared on the Citadel grounds. Thought naturally it hasn’t been put to use in years, I am positive we can set something up for his comfort.”  

On that note they all started walking toward the citadel, the large chocobo cautiously looking at Gladio’s back as he walked near Prompto.


	5. Chapter 5

It was late that night, Prompto had been in Insomnia for over 10 hours by then, and even though he was exhausted and he knew he needed to sleep, he couldn’t rest. It was nice to have a room to stay at, and an actual bed. One of the few places that had been rebuilt first was one of the apartment building near the citadel, making it easy to accommodate anyone who would lend a hand. Ignis made sure one of these apartment would remain vacant for Prompto and he gladly took it. It was nice and cozy, even more so than his old house was over 10 years ago. But he couldn’t keep his eyes closed. He sighed and finally pushed himself up to go for a short walk, surely it would clear his mind or at least drain the little energy he had left.

He went over to the stable where he had left Spade to make sure he was alright, only to find the bird fast asleep. He kept walking, his legs were aching a little from the traveling, but it didn’t stop him. He walked, until he reached the old remnant of the arcade Noctis and him used to go to when they were teens. It was nowhere near the top of the rebuilding priority list, but it was still partially there, that brought a smile to his face until he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, delicate and featherlight.

“ _Prompto_ .” The soft feminine voice called behind him. It was not a voice he remembered, but it somehow felt like he should know who the voice belonged to. He turned to look and his face lost all color; there _she_ was, dressed in white as she usually was, light almost glowing from her being. _Lady Lunafreya._

“ _I’m glad to see the sickness of this world hasn’t gotten the best of you.”_ She spoke again, and all Prompto could do was blink and try his best not to let his legs give in. “ _I won’t be long, I just came to you as a messenger, nothing more. You and I are alike in a lot of ways so it seems.”_

Prompto was shaking. What did she mean by that? Could she see through him? Of course she could. Even in the afterlife the Oracle would find ways to sense stuff no one else could. If anything it probably heightened her gifts to a clairvoyance level or something. “I-...”

“ _Fear not, I did not come here to confront you about that fondness you had been holding for Noctis all this time. He was after all feeling quite the same for you before and after the engagement.”_ She spoke, trying to reassure him when he started thinking she probably knew how he had felt once he was told about Noctis engagement. “ _Noctis and I seeked nothing more than that peace you are still working toward and for this I thank you. That being said, as much as we loved each other, this was to be a political union for the good of our nations.”_

“Why-...?” He so eloquently asked, not even sure how to form words anymore. She raised a hand and pressed a gentle finger to his lips and smiled.

“ _While you do not fully grasp it, you are of the very few with whom I can discuss freely. Your mind is open to our realm, which is quite fortunate for I came to speak with you. I have but one last request to ask of you if I may; Allow our king to visit you. While he cannot walk this realm so freely, he found ease in finding you in your dreams. Keep your mind open, he still need a friend, he still need you.”_

The words registered quickly, and before he could even make thoughts of what he wanted to say, his lips started to tremble. _So it WAS Noctis all this time!_ The Oracle seemed to read his surprise and simply answered with a nod.

 _“Keep him in your heart until you can no longer do so, when the time comes, you will be reunited. All of you are destined to greater things, and once your time is up, Noctis will be awaiting for Gladiolus, Ignis and yourself.”_ She added with another soft smile, waiting silently for a moment.

It took Prompto a few seconds to realise she was expecting a reaction from him. “Y-yes! Of course I’ll let him, anything you want Lady Lunafreya.” He finally answered quickly, stumbling slightly over his own words as he bowed his head nervously at her.

 _“We will be awaiting your arrival, but do not make haste, there it still a lot to be done, you still have a lot on your hands. Live life to the fullest, Prompto Argentum.”_ She said softly and leaned to press a light kiss on his forehead, warmth slowly wrapping around him a second before she disappeared, leaving him standing alone again, still in front of the old building.

He didn’t know what to do of this encounter, either he was losing it, or- it couldn’t be fake, it all felt too real. Then again, if you question any mad men about their sanity 95% of them would claim they aren’t mad. Either way, talking about this with _anyone_ was out of the question. The last thing he wanted was for someone to call him out for being completely insane, or worse, having people believing him and being put on display as the man who sees/talks to the deceased. He didn’t want to have this kind of attention drawn to him.

With that on his mind, he started to walk back to the apartment he was staying at, quietly looking forward to the next time he would fall asleep and would see Noctis. Hope filled his heart and he felt warmer, more at ease with himself and with everything that happened.

 

* * *

 

The next couple of weeks were complete blur. The city looked good, but there was still so much thing left to do, and still no words about a council yet. All the efforts were put in the rebuilding, and luckily everyone’s spirit was high. It was motivating to see progress being made. A small market had been set up in the main street, mostly trading goods and services since money lost most of it’s worth a while ago. The economy was probably not going to be restored for a long while and Prompto would be lucky if he lived long enough to see the day gils would be accepted again. Not that he had a lot to spend even if it was, he still held onto the little gils he had for the same reasons kids held onto stickers or shiny rocks, stuff like that. Being part of the construction and emergency operations however pretty much allowed him to pick stuff he needed to live like food, fresh water, clothes. Rebuilding the city easily counted as a service. Even though he could have whatever he wanted, he never went overboard and only took what he needed.  

The gunner was exhausted every time he stepped back into his room. He didn’t even have time to think about going back to the chocobo post anymore. He knew he was going to go back, but for the time being, this was his home and it didn’t feel quite as bad as he had expected. Though being completely exhausted also meant that three nights out of four were almost complete blackouts. No soothing _or_ horrifying dreams, but this also meant he didn’t get to dream of his friend either, which left him slightly disappointed almost every morning. Until that night, almost three weeks after his encounter with Lunafreya.

_Prompto woke up to the familiar sound of a car engine, upon opening his eyes he concluded it was the Regalia. He was sitting in the passenger seat as he always had. A warm wind was blowing through his hair as he was resting over the door. A smile appeared on his face as he looked at the scenery roll past him. “Finally…” He sighed happily and turned to look at the driver. Dark blue eyes blinking back at him and a warm smile welcomed him._

_“Took you long enough!” Prompto said happily as he leaned over to the driver’s side and wasted no time wrapping his arms around the late King. “You’ve got me waiting, buddy.” He added as he pulled away to let Noctis drive safely._

_“Excuse you, I’m not the one who worked myself to exhaustion so bad I didn’t dream for almost three weeks.” Noctis shot back with a laugh._

_“Well, you did leave us with our hands full your Highness.” Prompto added with a bright smile. He was going to make the most of this night, there was so much he wanted to talk about, more than the usual stuff._

_“Don’t call me that, Prom.” The other said but still smiled. “Besides, from what I hear you guys are doing great without me.” That took the smile from Prompto’s face._

_“We’d do so much better with you around, just saying.” He answered and took a deep breath, now wasn’t the time for moping around. “That’s going to sound crazy but, I saw Lady Lunafreya the other night…” He said after a short moment of silence, smile back in place._

_“You what? Nonsense.” Noctis said with as much sarcasm as he could muster and glanced over with a grin._

_“Alright, alright, I get it this is nothing new to you, but dude! I thought this whole thing was in my head!” Prompto quickly exclaimed, motioning over dramatically between the both of them. “And then I just go out to clear my head, and I’m standing alone in the street and then Boom! There she is, talking to me like that cryptic know-it-all ghost! Like… Warn a guy or something? I thought I was losing my shit!” He kept on rambling. “I also thought she was going to haunt me for-... you know…  Liking you and all? -Which by the way, R-U-D-E! You could have told me it was really you when I confessed a year ago!” He added, finally ending his rambling._

_“And tell you what? ‘Hey Prom, Don’t mind me, I’m just stalking your dreams ‘cause you’re miserable and I want to make you happy again.’?” Noctis quickly answered with a chuckle, rolling his eyes a little at his friend. “No matter what I would have said you wouldn’t have believed me. I figured seeing Luna would have made you believe it though. So here we are.” He added and let one hand slip off the steering wheel to find Prompto’s, letting his fingers slip between the other gloved ones. The blonde happily accepted the gesture and squeezed the other’s hand a bit, still trying to convince himself this was real._

_“So you_ were _stalking my dreams. Double R-U-D-E.” He shot back but didn’t have it in him to sound even remotely annoyed. “...I was miserable though. Thanks for that. You have no idea how good it made me feel, even if just for a day or two.” He added, looking down at their joined hands._

_“Don’t mention it, I’m miserable sometimes too. I get to be with my dad, and Luna, but they’re not you, or Gladio or Ignis. I miss you guys a lot.” The raven haired admitted still driving to wherever he was taking them, Prompto didn’t mind where the were going, he would have followed Noctis to hell if he wanted him to. Anywhere so long as they were together._

_“Yeah. speaking of which, do you get to see them too?” The gunner asked softly, thinking back on his friends and the fact that he hadn’t told them anything about his dreams or Lunafreya._

_“Like this? No… Luna told you, you’re special.” He answered keeping his eyes on the road._

_“You really gotta say it that way dude? Makes it sound like your politely insulting me.” Prompto laughed softly and shifted to stretch his back._

_“Well, you are Prom. Or else I wouldn’t have been able to get to you at all and neither would Luna. I don’t know how it works, dying didn’t make me suddenly understand the secrets of the afterlife or whatever, I’m still just me. But you’ve got something others don’t.” The Prince tried to explain, which made Prompto smile and blush just a bit, something that obviously didn’t go unnoticed. “What? Why is it so hard for you to believe you can be more than what you think you are?” He asked back, amusement obvious in his voice. Prompto had always been the type to think he was nothing but a normal guy with nothing special even when people told him he was so much more than that. And Noctis was always there to try and make him see who he really was._

_“Because- Before all that, before you... I wasn’t supposed to be anyone. I was just- You know… A shy kid with nothing much to go with. Then I met you, and I didn’t think I was supposed to be more than a sidekick you know? I was happy with that title, ‘Sidekick to the Prince of Lucis’ that was good enough for me-”_

_“Hey. Let me stop you right there. We don’t have all night to have you go on with your rambling.” The other man said with a smile. “You are who you are. You’re just as much of a hero as Gladio, Ignis and I. You stayed with us even when things started to fall apart. You’re still alive, still helping, still… You! And believe me, I’m glad you came all that way.” Noctis tried to explain and squeezed his hand a little to emphasize the words. “I miss you, but I’m glad you’re still alive, Prom. You, Iggy and Gladio- you’re all making me so proud and I would never have made it without you. The world wouldn’t be what it is without you. Get this through your thick skull, let it sink in and allow yourself to be the man you were meant to be even when you believed you were just a tag along.”_

_The words hit home and Prompto couldn’t help but smile to himself, still looking at their hands and let his thumb run over Noctis’ hand affectionately. “Thanks Noct… This means a lot.” He added, cutting his rambling short, he knew there was no point going on about this._

_“So now. Do tell me why you’ve been working yourself out to the point of blacking out?”_

_“Well, I- I just want to get as much done while I’m still around you know? That and blackout nights keep the bad dreams away. PTSD, Ignis said. I don’t like to think my past has been particularly traumatizing, but it might have been.”_

_“No shit.” The raven said softly and bit down on his bottom lip, concern obviously showing on his face. “You gotta take care of yourself a little more though.” The driver said and Prompto couldn’t help the warm laughter that escaped his lips._

_“Look who’s talking! How long have you been tossing me your veggies whenever Ignis made you lunch?” The blonde asked laughing as he shoved Noctis playfully. “Seriously though… If this means I get more chances of seeing you again, I promise I’ll pay more attention to what my body has to say. You’ll visit me again, yeah?”_

_“You know I will.” Noctis said softly and pulled over by a lake. Prompto couldn’t exactly recall where this was, but he figured it wasn’t very important since he was already feeling the dream world blurring around him. Without a second thought he reached a hand out to pull his friend into a kiss. It was quick and soft and Noctis didn’t try to push him away. Prompto wished he would have dared doing that sooner, but it was better late than never._

_“I’ll see you soon then. Don’t make me wait too long now, I’m tired of waiting for you.” Prompto said with a smile._

_“Right. I’ll wait for you too, but you better take your sweet ass time. Make me wait, please.” And with that the world slowly shifted back to reality, Prompto waking up in his bed, with a smile on his face._

 

* * *

 

As promised, Prompto did try and took care of himself after that. He slept a little more. He allowed himself to have an extra serving every once in awhile when Ignis cooked for him and Gladio. He took time to go on short runs in the morning, he couldn't even remember when was the last time he had done so. Over all, he started living again instead of being set on survival mode. He did all he could to help out in the city as well, but after a few months, progress was well on his way and soon he started to feel like he wasn’t needed around anymore.

“I think I’ll take Spade and get out of here for a while if you’re all set here…” The gunner said softly over dinner one night.

“No one is forcing you to stay, you know?” Gladio said obviously not meaning anything offencive judging from his tone and the smile on his face. Prompto was glad to have comprehensive friends. He didn’t need to explain anything to them anymore.

“I know, I just figured I’d let you guys know.” Prompto said smiling back at him.

“It was nice having you around again for a while.” The bulky man added making Prompto look him over with a smirk.

“You know, you are as sappy as it gets.” The blonde added laughing a little as he dug in the last few bites of his meal. “I’m going to miss that though.”

“Look who’s sappy now!” Gladio answered laughing. “We’ll miss you too.” He added as he pushed his empty plate out of the way.

“Oh- I was talking about Iggy’s cooking...“ The blonde teased only to earn himself a playful (but also kind of painful) punch to the shoulder.

“Speaking of which, while I won’t be around to provide you with healthy meals, I do hope you will make an effort to keep your eating habit as healthy as possible. You are still expected to report here every once in a while and attend the council meetings. I’ll be damn if you show up in the same deplorable state you were in when you got here…”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. I promise I’ll do better. And I will try to come back every few weeks.” He said as he finished his plate and looked over at Ignis again. “I know, it’s not a priority right now… But if you could start looking for an architect for Noct’s tomb. I think I have some decent pictures on my camera, from back when we were on the road, they could be good references…” He added calmly. He couldn’t help but feel the mood in the room dropping quickly and gods he hated being the one to speak those words at that moment. “I’ll start looking for a good place for him, not too far from Insomnia if at all possible.” He knew he could meet with Noctis any night, but he still felt his throat closing up a little, and breathing was slightly harder all of a sudden. He could tell the other two felt the same.

“I’ll have something arranged upon your return, Prompto, you can leave it to me.” Ignis finally said after a short moment of silence.

“I know you got this, I just hope it’s not adding too much on your plate or anything.”

“Don’t you worry about me. Gladio isn’t going anywhere anytime soon as presume, I will have him do the dirty work.” The advisor reassured him with a smile, knowing fully well what kind of look he was getting from Gladio at the moment.

“What did you do Prom? Now I’ll have the whole reconstruction crew on my back day in and day out!” Gladio sighed over dramatically before smiling at him. “You go and do your things. We’ve got this under control.” he added and reached to quickly ruffle the blonde’s hair.

“Thanks you two. I’ll text you so you know I’m still alive.” Prompto said as he tried to get away from the large hand messing his hair up.

 

* * *

 

“You and me, back on the road again buddy!” Prompto exclaimed as he rode the Chocobo out of the city and through the deserted road leading to and back from Insomnia.

The ride back to Wiz wasn’t as harsh as it was when he got to Insomnia. Maybe it was the fact that he was a little more fed and healthier. Or maybe it was just the fact that he didn’t feel as shitty and lonely as he did before coming back. All things considered, he didn’t regret going back or staying there for this long. Sure he still was set on fixing Wiz, but now he felt a lot more capable of doing so, both physically and mentally.

Once they made it back, Prompto took the saddle off the bird’s back and hung it where it belonged before turning in for the night, it was still early, but there was no rush anymore, he could take it all one day at a time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update, I'm a big nerd and I got caught into my cosplay rush again!  
> Hope you enjoyed this one! :)


	6. Chapter 6

#  Chapter 6

P:  _ Guys, I think I found the place.   
_ P:  _ you want to come and see for yourself? I’m sure you both need a little time off, whaddya say?! _ _   
_ G:  _ I say you’ve been gone too long. Get back, get a good night rest in an actual bed and we’ll go see that place together the next day.   
_ I:  _ I have to agree with Gladio on that one. We haven’t seen you in a while.  
_ I:  _ Pun obviously intended. _ _   
_ P:  _ … Ignis doesn’t do puns! Galdio! What’s wrong with Iggy?! _ _   
_ I:  _ Do remain calm, Prompto. Just come home so we can stop worrying about you even just for a little while. _ _   
_ G:  _ He’s worrying, I’m not.  _ _   
_ P:  _ Finally someone’s having a little faith in me! :D Thanks big guy! _ _   
_ G:  _ If you want to see it that way. _ _   
_ P:  _ Too late! Can’t take it back! _ _   
_ G:  _ Just… Get your ass here already. And bring your camera so we can show the tomb for references. the team will start working on there sketches or whatever. _ _   
_ P:  _ You already found someone? Man, you guys are fast. _ _   
_ I:  _ Indeed we have. Be careful on your journey. _ _   
_ P:  __ Always! :)

* * *

_ “I never dared to ask, but where do you live now?” Noctis asked softly as they both sat by the fire he had started in the middle of the campground. Another night, another dream with the King. They had become a lot more recurant since Prompto started to take care of himself again and he was glad. _

_ “Wiz, where else?”  Prompto told him as if it was the obvious answer to his question.  _

_ “Should have guessed.” The black haired man said with a chuckle and bumped their shoulders lightly. “How is it? You’ve got your own heard of chocobos yet?” He asked again and placed a hand over the blonde’s. _

_ “Nah, I don’t have time for that, and they’re kind of hard to come by nowadays. It’s just me and Spade, living the dream on the chocobo farm. Once I have more time to myself though I’m going to get this place running again!” He said excitedly and let his hand slip from under Noctis to wrap his arm around his shoulders and held him close. “I wish you could see it. It’s not quite as nice as I remember, but that’s probably just because some things are obviously missing, like, you know, chocobos.” ‘and you’ though he kept that part to himself. “… But it’s nice!” _

_ “I bet it is… I wish I could see it too.” The other said, leaning a little into Prompto’s side. “How’s Insomnia?”  _

_ “Still rebuilding I guess? I haven’t been there for a few weeks now, but when I left, the place started to look good again. You should see the people work! I never thought I’d ever see so many people working together, it’s kind of inspiring to see. I’m going back tomorrow, Gladio and Ignis insisted I go and prove them I’m still alive and well.” The gunner said, rolling his eyes, but kept smiling before he looked down at the ground again. “Then we’re getting you a nice fancy tomb, just like the other Kings. Ignis found someone who claims he can design it, and I found a nice piece of land. It’s quiet, near a lake. I might try my hand at fishing there once the thing is built.” He said trying not to let this talk get him down again. “I was thinking. What would you say if instead of placing your engine blade in there I placed your fishing rod? ‘Here lies King Noctis Caelum Lucis, King of Kings and terror of all lakes.’.” He joked to lightened the mood a little.  _

_ “Ignis would never let you, but I have to say it would be pretty damn funny to see you try to convince him.” Noctis said laughing a bit, enjoying the warmth of the fire as the sun slowly set behind them.  _

_ “... I know I see you here every now and then, but… I’m going to be a mess when we get to close that door for good you know?” Prompto tried to say. This was still weird to him, to be able to freely talk to his friend and not really being able to spend time with him as he used to. “And, Iggy and Gladio will probably be too. You know, I didn’t tell them about- this.” He said gesturing to the both of them again, not even sure how to call this thing they were having on a weekly basis. He  leaning back on his free hand again, happily supporting the other’s weight against his side. “I didn’t want them to think I was going completely insane, they are concerned about me enough as it is, I don’t want to add this to the list. That and if this whole thing IS actually just me being completely off my rockers, I’d rather never finding out.” He said with a nervous laugh, obviously thinking this could be a possibility.  _

_ “Right, well I’m telling you, you are entirely sane and this is happening.” Noctis said softly and closed his eyes for a short moment.  _

_ “Yeah, that’s what you would say even if I was completely mad, so that doesn’t help buddy.” Prompto added, but smiled anyway. “I don’t want to look into this more than necessary, I’m happy thinking this is actually real.” _

_ “Alright, then there’s nothing wrong about believing in it.”  _

_ “Thanks for still making time for this old loser even in the afterlife, you have no idea what this means to me.” Prompto said softly and kissed the top of Noctis’ head.  _

_ “I have all the time in the world, and I would make time even if I didn’t. Don’t mention it.”  _

* * *

After traveling back to Insomnia with his loyal chocobo, running around the city to see the progress, showing the pictures he took over a decade ago of one of the tomb they visited  _ and  _ having one of his favorite meal served to him by Ignis, Prompto was beat.

“Sorry Noct, this one’s totally gonna be a blackout.” he said to himself as he let himself fall face first in the soft bed in his apartment. He barely had time to remind himself that he should start thinking about getting himself an actual be because, six the haystack had stopped being comfortable 15 minutes after he first laid on it back at Wiz. He slept like a rock and only came back to consciousness early in the afternoon on the next day. His friends had no reason to worry about him, but he had been needing this. 

Once his brain was functional again, he had showered (and shaved because he wasn’t going to let the caveman look get to him) and got dressed he went out to join Gladio and Ignis so they could be on their way. 

“Are you sure it’s ok to leave him here? He’s a little nervous around people.” Prompto said looking over at the chirping chocobo in the stables. 

“I assure you it is quite alright. While you were away I met with this nice young lady who shares your fascination for chocobos, since she cannot do much in terms of rebuilding she offered to take care of any traveling chocobo left in the stables. She’s been delighted at the idea of taking care of Spade since I told her about the two of you. I believe she should be getting here soon if you want to meet her before we go.” Ignis quickly said trying to reassure Prompto.

“Besides, traveling by car will be a lot faster, especially since we only have one chocobo.” Gladio added as he watched the blonde walk back in the stable to check on his feathered friend one last time. 

“Hey buddy! I’ll be away for a few hours, be a good boy and don’t bite anyone’s hand of while I’m gone alright?” Prompto said, completely ignoring the eyeroll he was getting from Gladio. He went around the place for the 4th time, making sure there was enough water, enough food, enough space, enough hay… 

“He’ll be fine, Prompto! We better make tracks before it gets dark.” Gladio added as he walked to the blonde and tugged him by the wrist to lead him away. It wasn’t dangerous to travel in the dark anymore, but old habits die hard and Gladio wanted to be able to  _ see  _ that place. The dead of night wouldn’t do.

“I’ll be back for you, I promise!!” Prompto whined, dramatically reaching out to the black chirping bird with his other hand. Spade had long accepted Gladiolus’ presence as non threatening so it didn’t even look like he wanted to do anything to help Prompto as he was pulled away. 

Less than two hours after they left, Prompto told Gladio to pull over, they had to walk the rest of the way, but it wasn’t more than twenty minutes walk. The place was beautiful: Old looking trees surrounded an open field big enough to accommodate the tomb. On one side, under the large trees was a lake that seemed to go further out into a small mountain surrounding the area. He had plans of his own to put up a fishing dock once constructions were over, just to make this place a little more personal to whoever knew their friend and his love for fishing. He wasn’t sure there even was anything worth fishing there, but he didn’t care. 

“So?” He asked with a smile, looking over to Gladio mostly, since Ignis could unfortunately not see the place. 

“It’s perfect Prompto. Really.” The shield admitted, not even trying to make any snarky comment like he would usually did. “I hope the terrain is good enough to build the structure though.” 

“We can have someone come and inspect the perimeters tomorrow morning given they can get here without getting lost.” Ignis said, trying not to sound to upset with the fact that he couldn’t see the place. 

“I’ll remember the way, I’ll take them here. They’ll also need someone to stand guard, just in case something goes wrong.” Gladio said as he walked into the field and toward the lake, taking in the surrounding for a few minutes longer. 

“That settles it then. We will start the preparations tomorrow.”

* * *

It took a little over three weeks for the plans to be done and the place to be built. Ignis couldn’t believe how fast the workers were, even after all the work they had put in the city. No one argued about it being a waste of time, everyone was still so grateful for the light being restored, they thought it was the least they could do to honor the King’s memory. 

They met there one early morning, once everything was done and the workers had left the area, they needed privacy for that part and no one questioned it. Prompto held onto the engine blade tightly while Gladio carried the old box inside the tomb. The place was perfect in every details. A statue laying down in the middle with a marble box over its head to put the ashes in. The sunlight filtered perfectly through the small windows around the roof that were added to the original design.  _ Fitting for the man who brought back the light _ the man who designed the place had said. 

As expected, it was hard for the three men to go through the door with dry eyes. Prompto looked around the room, trying to find something,  _ anything _ to set his eyes on to keep from crying his eyes out yet again. His eyes soon settled on tree other marble boxes placed at an equal distance a bit behind the King’s statue. Anyone who hadn’t seen a King’s tomb before would probably not even have noticed them, but he sure did. He walked up to one of them to inspect it and couldn’t hold back the sob that left him when he red the inscription, quickly going to the other two: 

_ Ignis Scientia   - Gladiolus Amicitia  _  -   _ Prompto Argentum _   
  


“What is it Prom?” Gladio asked, his voice obviously caught in his throat from the emotions he was already feeling before his attention was even brought to the urnes. 

Prompto couldn’t say anything, and just pointed at the names. And that even drew a shaky sob from Gladio. Gladio of all people! “-That’s fitting I guess.” The shield tried to say through the tears that he shamelessly allowed to roll down his cheeks.

“Someone,  _ please _ , let me know what’s going on.” Ignis finally said. It was the first time in years that they heard the advisor express his frustration about his condition. Needless to say it did shake Prompto back to reality and to the task at hand. 

“Someone decided- We’re gonna... “ He tried to say and took a deep breath to calm himself and wiped his cheek with the back of his free hand, the other one still gripping Noctis weapon of choice tightly. 

“It’s urnes Iggy… One for each of us.” Gladio said with a shaky but definitely more coherent voice. “Whoever made the plans decided that we deserved to be here with Noct once this is all over.”

“And we do….” Prompto said weakly. “I’m not- not a fan of putting myself on a pedestal, but… We were there, the whole time. Thi-Think about it. We played our p-part…” he tried to say, choking on his words. 

“That is… Positively grim and weirdly flattering.” Ignis finally said. “But our time is not up yet Prompto. There is no need for tears. We are all very much alive and still have so much to give to this world.” Leave it to him to be the voice of reason. With those words he walked up to both Prompto and Gladio and pulled them both in a uncharacteristically tight hug, which the both gladly accepted. 

“Come on… Lets do this the right way now.” Gladio was the first to pull away, still holding the old box under his arm and walked back to the statue. He opened the beautifully decorated marble box and put the content of the old box in it without a word, quietly saying goodbye to their friend for the second and last time. 

Prompto followed, blade in hand and carefully placed it where it belonged. He let his shaky hand rest on it for a little while longer before he reached for the picture Noctis had chosen to remember them all by. The first they took with the newly fixed Regalia once they reached Hammerhead. He slipped it tightly between the statue and the blade so it wouldn’t fly away easily if or when the door or one of the windows would break. 

“A few words, if I may…” Ignis started, tears in his eyes, but voice never breaking. “May this last resting place bring forth hope for the future. May it keep the darkness at bay. May you always be remembered for the sacrifice you’ve made for the light to shine bright into this world once more. You will forever be in our hearts and in our memories, not only as the King of Kings, but also as a dear brother that was taken away from us way too early.” 

If there was one eye left dry in the room before, there was none after these words, but as heartbreaking as this all was, they were finally turning this page of their history and it  _ finally _ felt right. 

After a few minutes of much needed silence to calm down, and one too many sobs (mainly from Prompto) they finally walked out of the tomb before locking the door shut until the time came for one of them to go. 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter is very short, but thanks for sticking around until the end! I hope you enjoyed that fic as much as I enjoyed writing it! (and sorry if it made you tear up a bit, I cried too if it can make y'all feel any better.)

It has been years, decades even, since that day. Prompto’s dream of raising chocobos and bringing Wiz back to its former glory had came true. He was not only part of the council that had finally put Insomnia back together, he was also the proud owner of the chocobo farm. But sadly, time passed and his loyal black feathered friend had passed a while ago. Lots of travelers stopped by to come see the birds, but only a few of the people who worked there actually knew about his past. He didn’t like to talk about it, he didn’t like to brag, and he certainly didn’t want the attention; he was just a simple old man enjoying life, and sometimes taking part in political decisions whenever he was called to meet in the city. 

Gladiolus and Ignis came by to visit him sometimes, and he would go see them whenever he had business in Insomnia. But they were all getting old and traveling was starting to wear them down, so after a while they mostly called or texted each other until one day Prompto didn’t pick up or text back. 

_ “Wh- Noct! Why are you crying!” Prompto asked softly as he opened his eyes to see the friend who had never left his side even after passing away.  _

_ “Because… You’re here.” The dark haired man replied as he reached out carefully for the blonde, placing a hand on his shoulder. _

_ “Yeah? We’ve been doing this for how long now? 20… 25 years...?” Prompto asked obviously confused as he reached to wipe the tears from Noctis’ face.  _

_ “More like 42 years…” The King said barely above a whisper. _

_ “Time flies man. I feel like I’m twenty again. Wait… Why do I feel like I’m 20?” _

_ “Because, you are  _ here _. I’m sorry.” The King said looking down sadly, tears running down his cheeks. _

_ “... -Oh…” was all Prompto manage to say when the words finally made sense. “You mean…” _

_ “Yeah. I would have expected Gladio before you to be honest. What happened?”  _

_ “I lived life, like I said I would. I guess I… Guess I was satisfied.” Prompto said trying to look into his friend’s eyes. “But, I’m here now. I’m finally here. With you.” He said with a smile on his face.  _

_ His body didn’t ache anymore. Most, of his worries were already fading away, he knew he had left behind some good people to take care of his birds. The world was finally back to normal. His job was over.  _

* * *

 

A few weeks after he passed, Ignis, Gladio and the handful of people who knew him who were still alive would gather around for his funerals. Nothing big, just a few good words, some good memories. They would even hang some of his pictures around the tomb before closing the door once more, until next time. 


End file.
